Recap: Supernatural Episode 10, Caged Heat

Crowley goes into the female djinn’s cell and is all set and ready for a nice long chat when suddenly, the fire alarm goes off. He leaves her and goes to investigate, finding dead Demon!Christian on the floor next to the torture rack. Dean turns off the alarm and as Crowley turns to face him, Sam swings that pipe like he’s stretching for a home run, knocking Crowley for a loop.

Crowley staggers back, then realizes that he stumbled directly into another Devil’s Trap (only this one looks like it was spray painted).

Crowley: To what do I owe the reach around?

Meg: Crowley.

Crowley: Whore.

Meg lifts her fist and Crowley bows with pain. Sam demands his soul back and Crowley says no. Meg does the fist thing again and Crowley says he can’t get it. He was doing good to get Sam out—the bits left behind, well…. Then he asks Sam why he wants it back. He basically reiterates what Cas said about it being obliterated by Michael and Lucifer.

Sam hands Meg the knife to let her kill Crowley.

Dean: But he’s our only hope.

Sam: He can’t get it. He’s useless.

Meg steps into the Devil’s Trap and is all, “This is for Lucifer….” Of course it’s not going to be that easy to kill the King Of Hell. He sweeps her legs, knocks her down, grabs the knife, and throws it up into the ceiling and breaks the Devil’s Trap. Stepping free, he grabs the knife and points it at Meg.

Crowley: You don’t know torture you little insect.

Suddenly, Cas shows up carrying a bag that Sam put in the trunk of the Impala. “Leave them alone.”

Crowley: Castiel. I haven’t seen you all season.

BWAHH!!! Now, that was funny.

Crowley: You the cavalry now?

Cas: Put the knife down.

Crowley: You’re losing to Raphael. The whole affair makes Vietnam look like a roller derby. What’s in the gift bag?

And then, Cas lights the bones on fire. Just like that, Crowley begins to burn and within moments, he’s a pile of ash. Honestly? I can’t believe he’s gone. It was so fast. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m going to miss him.

And now what happens in a Hell that has no King? Anarchy? Chaos? I mean, it’s Hell. I wouldn’t expect it to be very ordered anyway. I wonder how a ruler-less Hell will impact the war in Heaven. Or the surplus of baddies on Earth. And what of the whole Alpha surge? That’s not going anywhere.

Oh! Just thought of something…would Crowley have gone back to Hell since he’s dead? Or…is he in Purgatory? Wouldn’t that be ironic? But I guess now the guys are no longer beholden to a demon…. They still have baddies running amuck, but in a way, they kinda…lost their compass. They’re not missionless, but they no longer have clear orders to accomplish the mission.

Sam bends to pick up the demon-killing knife from the pile of Crowley ashes and Meg vanishes.

Dean: She’s smart. I was going to kill her, too. (glances at Cas) I would have given you an hour with her, first.

Cas: Why would I want that?

Dean lets his small sigh be his answer.

Back at the car, Dean gives Cas a genuine thank you for his help in keeping them in one piece, again. Looking just this side of desperate, Cas says that Crowley was right—things are not going well for him upstairs.

Dean: Is there anything we can do?

Cas: No. I wish circumstances were different. I’d rather be here.

He looks so…earnest and sad that I felt bad for him. And the lines around his eyes echoed Dean’s in mutual weariness and fear. He looked very human in that moment.

Awww! I take back what I said in an earlier ramble about Dean showing Cas more respect. He knows Cas is his friend and what’s more, he is Cas’. And that’s invaluable to Dean. ‘Course, he doesn’t know that Sam threatened to kill Cas if the angel didn’t help…but I think it’s best that he not know that just yet.

Cas: Listen, Sam. We’ll find another way.

Sam: You really want to help? We have a prison full of monsters. Can’t leave ‘em, can’t let ‘em go.

Cas: I understand. *poof*

*whispers: but what about the baby shifters??*

Dean: He’s right. About your soul. We’ll figure something out.

Sam: No we won’t. Putting it back in would squash me to bits.

Dean: We don’t know that.

Sam: When angels and demons agree, I pay attention.

Dean: You say this now after we practically died trying to get it back?

Sam: Exactly! How many times are we going to risk our asses for this? I don’t think I want it back.

Dean: You don’t know what you’re saying.

Sam: No, I’m saying something you don’t like. You obviously care a lot, but I’m better off without it.

Dean: You’re wrong.

Sam: I’m not sure about that.

He turns his back on Dean and walks away.

Dean: Sam, don’t walk away.

His voice is pleading, not ordering. He wants so badly to convince Sam otherwise, and the certainty in Sam’s voice is terrifying to him. I can imagine that he can relate to Sam’s resistance on some level—after all, when he came back from Hell he wished he couldn’t feel anything, he hurt so bad. Sam has to remember that, too. The hollow man next to Dean is not his brother, and yet, the ruined soul in the cage isn’t his brother, either. Not in the way Dean remembers him. Not in the way he used to be.

Dean calls after Sam, over and over, but Sam continues to walk away.

We have one more episode before the Holiday Hiatus, and the previews look to be a doozy. I have a feeling, though, that we’re going to be left breathless and pressing a hand to our hearts to keep them in place. I just hope that in the second half of the season, our heroes are rewarded for their valiant struggle to find a way out of this mess.

Gaelicspirit is a storyteller. She is a recent addition to Whedonverse Network, but has been writing and posting recap/reviews of Supernatural on LiveJournal since 2007. She works as a freelance writer and consultant in the real world, and is ever-connected to the six-degrees of Joss Whedon.

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Gaelicspirit

Gaelicspirit is a storyteller. She is a recent addition to Whedonverse Network, but has been writing and posting recap/reviews of Supernatural on LiveJournal since 2007. She works as a freelance writer and consultant in the real world, and is ever-connected to the six-degrees of Joss Whedon.